Fairytales for Simple Things
by Paper Lanterns And Yogurt
Summary: How far are you willing to go to make a single wish come true? Warnings: animal abuse/Tenten abuse
1. Chapter 1

It was dark, very dark, even though it was supposed to be midday.

She, and the six others cramped together in a small cage, were too scared to fall asleep and too tired from hunger to stay awake. Thus, a horrendous half-lucid state of sluggish limbs and racing heartbeats. Every time she felt a jerk, paws and feathers and teeth would spastically hit her, making the entire ordeal all the more grueling.

Why had she ever agreed to helping that wide-eyed stranger? She could have gone throughout her entire existence in the isolated bamboo forests, frolicking freely and not having a care in the world. But she had to ruin it for the boy she had seen only once, on a misty cold morning.

Tenten recapped the decision she had made, the one that led to her confinement. Was a stranger she admired really worth a lifetime of slavery?

_Like every morning, Tenten shook the icy fresh dew off of her body. It was still very early; fog covered the bamboo forest and made the ground stiff to travel across. She took a walk to wake her from her drowsiness, hoping it will heat her body until the sun's warmth can do so._

_"Hiyah!"_

_Halting, Tenten perked her ears to the foreign noise. Another animal must have made it, but none of the species around were the kind to make such a gusty yell. If it were a predator, it would not have made a sound. The bamboo forests were naturally quiet._

_"Haaa!"_

_Even more perplexed, Tenten wandered closer to where the cries could have come from. She found herself peeking behind a puff of bushes still damp to see a clearing. The mist obscured most of the animal's distinct features, but from the outline, Tenten was pleasantly surprised that the type of creature she had come across was a human. Humans were said to be very dangerous fiends, even above the tigers and panthers that prowled the nights. They looked so defenseless, but their greatest strength is their minds. Tenten had heard stories about humans, not many of them positive. Some though, she had heard from the songbirds in the canopy, are kind - and thus she does not flee in terror when she sees the human swing a leg out to strike at something._

_A bell chimed raucously from its place, somewhere near a thick log that had once been a tree maybe. Tenten didn't know where the log came from, or how the human got it there in the first place, but the bell made a shrill, high-pitched sound that created an interesting sound. It was nice, if a bit too noisy._

_"Hooraah!" Tenten moved to a different spot around the clearing, hoping to see what this strange human was doing. It was making very loud sounds, but they didn't seem to be mating calls or howls to alert its pack. Its leg kept coming up and down, and something was flailing out from the back of its head._

_Now with a better view, Tenten could now tell that the human was kicking the log with a leg, and that whatever was flounding behind its head was some sort of long fur tied close together to resemble a tail. It flapped bonelessly, and Tenten had to question the practicality a fake-tail served for survival. Every few times the human attacked the log, it would ring. She was still confused about the whereabouts of the noise, but was positive it stemmed from the wooden structure._

_"If-if!" the human exclaimed, his tone filled with determined. Even when she could not see his eyes, she saw the crease of his brow and a fire about him she had never seen before. "If I cannot - grr - do five thousand kicks! I will have to do - gah - five thousand punches!"_

_What on each was this human saying? Tenten debated on leaving the thing alone for a bit, for surely so many kicks would take a while - even moreso if it failed and had to accomplish those punches as well._

_But... for some reason she wanted to watch him. Other animals never did such pointless tasks. They did not try to hone the natural skills given to them unless it was to sharpen their claws, despite being what man has attempted to accomplish since the day it had appeared. They always strived for more, trying to find something greater than anything in this world. And the spark about this human made her feel compelled to watch, to view the burning spitfire in a dewy bamboo forest._

_"You're interested in a failure like him?" a voice asked from behind her. Tenten turned, surprised that she had been caught off guard when a moment of laziness could have made her someone else's breakfast. She was surprised to see a very small tiger-like cat before her, looking much too lean to be a cub. It had a white underside, and warm orange fur over its face and back with even darker stripes along various parts of its body. She didn't know what to call this thing... but it made her instincts flare just by being in its presence._

_"Failure...?" is all she could say, surprised at such a word. In the rule of the forest, a failure is a meal - and this human would obviously not fall for even the greatest of rhinoceros' if he was put up against one._

_The feline, its uncannily wide yellow eyes staring directly at her, smiled so toothily Tenten was prepared to run for her life. "Yes, a failure," it said with great mirth, as if enjoying an easy catch of some sort instead. "To a simple animal like you, watching him try to get stronger is the most charming thing to see, right?" He didn't wait for her to nod her head, turning his unnerving gaze to the human. "But to other humans, he is a complete failure. His name is Rock Lee, they say. He's working hard to graduate from a school he goes to, but he never seems to pass any of his classes. He is out here, trying to work on his skills, but surely he will fail and no animal will ever pick to be his partner."_

_Why wouldn't an animal pick to be Rock Lee's partner? "I'd be his partner," Tenten replied indignantly, a growl in the back of her throat for some reason. She had not meant to be so hostile, and hastily returned to appearing demure. Being submissive is just one of the many ways she needed to be in order to see the next day._

_To her relief, the other creature was not offended in the slightest. In fact, its grin might have gotten even bigger if possible. "How could you ever hope to accomplish that, simple thing?" it inquired, causing Tenten's ire to grow. "The animals there are not like the animals in this forest. They are all only capable of fighting and killing one another. There is no cooperation, only the need to be the best. Humans, even if they are as determined as Rock Lee, will always give in to greed."_

_"I'll never let that happen," Tenten said in defense. She had only met the human, but she did not want to be like some of the other creatures of the forest who believe beings like Rock Lee will destroy all they love and cherish. Humans are not bastards._

_"The simple little forest creature wants to save her prince charming of hard work and guts, is that so?" the feline said coyly, eyes leering at her. "I can grant you that wish. In fact, I can even ensure his kind heart for all of eternity... but you'll have to work for it. You will have to be stronger than you were today, than you were yesterday, and forever strive to be stronger in the future."_

_To be stronger than you were yesterday ... Tenten thought of the concept. It felt new in her head, which admittedly, had been very simple. It focused solely on acquiring food and a safe place to sleep - never of being something bigger than she was._

_Nodding to the animal, itching presence in her spine still annoying, Tenten told it confidently, " I will become stronger. I will help the failure become a winner without giving in to selfish power." The other seemed to look like it had just been given a very tantalizing treat, entire body giddy._

_"I look forward to it," it said, getting up and turning away to disappear into the mist. "You might want to wear that necklace though, if you want any chance of fulfilling your wishes. Wherever you are, it will lead you to prince charming." And before Tenten could ask what a necklace was, the animal's figure was gone._

_She looked to her feet in confusion, surprised when she saw a shining emerald in the shape of a dewdrop in front of her on a lithe iron chain. If it will help her... Tenten slipped her head through the space, feeling very satisfied that it was tight enough so as to not snag on any stray branches, but loose enough as to not strangle her. It gleamed prettily in the sun, which was now appearing through the tall bamboo stalks._

_Tenten turned her head to smile at Rock Lee, but was astonished when she found not only him, but the log gone as well. Did he really carry it away? Then again... she had not heard the bell either. That pesky feline! It had focused her thoughts too much, and now she had no idea when she will see Rock Lee ever again!_

_Unwilling to give up, because she made a promise, Tenten scurried after the human to where she knew he will be going. To the edge of the bamboo forest..._

_There, it was a dirt border where enormous metal machines crossed, and then a wide open prairie that offers no hiding places. If you manage to get beyond that, you will have reached the forest where the humans lived surrounded by high walls, completely impenetrable except for a set of formidable twin gates. It was never quiet in a human forest, and she felt anxious wondering if she would really follow Rock Lee all the way there for her wish to come true. She had meant it to the cat, to become better than she was yesterday, and if it entailed somehow passing those impassable barriers then so be it._

_By the time she did make it to the dirt border though, she still had not seen the human. Slightly discouraged, Tenten even dared crossing over to the prairie, to see if she could spot a giant log, or hear the melody of a ring._

_Instead, she felt something pinch her in the rear end, and fell face-first into the dew-laden grass beneath_ _her._

And like all the fairy tales she had ever heard of before, Tenten awoke with a sore neck in a itty bitty box made of unyielding metal with no idea where she was or how she got there. She had fervently hoped it would be a bad dream when she began hearing the anguished titter of other animals around and near her, but the weight of an emerald looped around her neck confirmed that what she was experiencing was all too true.

She could not see where she was, but she could feel movement despite not walking. Her front was pressed to the bars, and at her back there were several different presences of the other animals. Her legs and arms were slightly forced through the slits, because there was simply not enough room otherwise. Tenten tried wiggling around, but it just made her worn body become even more restless and for the animals against her to become even more frazzled.

For what was probably days, Tenten waited in the dark. She did not curse the heavens or cry like the other animals were doing, because she knew the blame was all on her. If she had listened to the stories of the horrible things humans have done, she would not have ended up like this! But... as a cruel twist, maybe this is exactly what will bring her to meeting this Rock Lee person. The emerald was very soothing to rub, which helped her focus her thoughts and stave off the insatiable boredom she had accumulated. In the forest, she had never been bored because there was always something to do such as foraging for food or not becoming the food in the first place.

Thankfully, Tenten drifted in and out of a dreamless sleep every so often that distracted her from her sore joints. She was jerked out of her nap when whatever she was on came to a sudden halt. In an instant the hysteria that had somewhat died down on the trip started up once more, and Tenten winced when she felt something akin to a beak poke her directly in the back acutely.

It turns out, she and the other animals had been covered underneath a large black tarp, maybe to make sure they did not have a way back home, or simply to blind them. To her horror, there were around twenty other cages full of creatures from her bamboo forest. Songbirds, parrots, turtles, koalas, frogs, salamanders, and even a small tiger cub or two all locked up in similar confinements. It made her queasy, especially when she realized that they were in one of the moving machines that humans used.

A human appeared before her, staring down at her without an ounce of pity to the small creature stuck in the prison. He had no emotion on his rugged, leather-worn face as he picked up her cage and placed it on another machine that quickly began locomotion once more.

Scared at the revelations, as well as disoriented from the sudden change in lighting, Tenten could not tell that her cage had been placed on to a conveyor belt that was currently whisking her away in to a large building called Konoha Laboratories.

* * *

Tenten couldn't tell if she was in agonizing pain, or was too numb to feel anything. Her limbs felt dead, unwilling to work for her. She had never felt such crippling exhaustion in the forest that didn't feel like a boulder had rolled her over.

She remembered the cage door being opened, and all of the animals taken out. Many of them, like her, were too worn from the trip and the homesickness to fight, and those that did were injected with a needle to make them fall compliant instantly. It churned her stomach to see humans doing this, and she was puddy in the big hands that held her as they moved her this way and that. As her arms were lifted and ears tugged at, Tenten tried to take in her surroundings.

It was a very sterile, white room with artificial light hanging above which made her eyes hurt and her head ache. Everything was much too bright for her. The room was not very big, just enough for ten of the humans to sit around three tables lined up. Already a new cage had entered and the creatures inside being pulled out.

"No outward deformities... all basic functions normal...," the human in front of her commented. They had on plastic goggles and a mask over their face, hands covered in gloves as they held her in a secure yet loose grip. To her chagrin, these humans also wore white lab coats.

Tenten was then placed in a small plastic cylinder with a door and holes on the top, inwardly groaning at being put in yet another cage. She laid in it, frowning to herself as she was put on a different conveyor belt and sent to another part of the human building. In truth, she was very scared and relieved at the same time. She did not want to know what happened to those that did have deformities, or could not perform basic functions.

Her second stop was more grueling than the first. More humans in white, except they pried her mouth open and gave her a shot at the nape of her neck. They held her in large firm hands, even waving her around and yelling, "This one's wearing a necklace!" Thankfully, they did not remove the emerald. The feline back in the forest had told her it would help her with her wish, and she could not lose the only trace of forest she still held close to her heart.

After she was put in the litte tube once more, aggravated and more aware, Tenten saw a sticker placed on to the side of her container before being sent off once more on the moving belt. When she arrived, it was the shortest visit, yet the most excruciating. The humans in white once again forced her mouth open, but instead of feeling at her canines they stuck something down her throat which made her want to hurl, and then stuck her with various other needles as speedily as possible. She was even worse than when she had come in, and wondered if she had been given a compliance-shot as well for her eyelids felt droopy.

Tenten was passed on to another human this time, who gently brought her through a set of colorless double doors into what Tenten could only call a horror house.

Cages were everywhere. They lined the walls, going so far up she wondered if even a giraffe would have reached. Many of them held various animals in them, most of which she had never seen before. They all met her with a myriad of reactions, none of them foreboding to anything pleasant.

As she was taken and put in yet another metal enclosure, unable to even think of anything but the verdant landscape that had been her life being replaced with the listless blank walls around her, Tenten wondered just what else she'd have to be willing to give up.

* * *

**A/N: Have fun with the animal abuse/Tenten abuse because there's going to be a lot more of it.**

**I am not too certain where this story is going, but it will have a very Pokemon-like feel to it. As in: little woodland creatures are going to be beating the shit out of each other. Hope you enjoy.**


	2. Chapter 2

She stayed in a cage for three days, becoming restless and more than hungry. At first, her stomach had gurgled at her, but soon it grew into a mindless ache that gnawed at her insides. It felt as if there was a gaping hole in her, and Tenten wondered if this was the hungriest she had ever been. Back in the forest, even if she had not eaten for a day, there was still _something_ she could have done to remedy it. Here, there was only waiting.

There was also the constant _silence_. Only the soft vibrations of a creature moving around in its cage could be heard, often from a faraway distance. No one talked. No one smiled. No one even cried. There was only a lack of sound. It was as if the colorless blank walls and cages around them destroyed any senses they might have had. Tenten certainly found hers blunted. All she did those agonizingly long days was to sleep and listen to her stomach chew on itself.

The only way she even knew that time passed in this purgatory was when the humans in white (blank, colorless, _maddening_ white) turned off the sterile lights above them, thus plunging the room into darkness once more. Tenten was getting awfully sick of dark and light...

But by the third day, it got worse.

Tenten only had a vague recollection of what had transpired. It was mostly about being brought to a different room full of computers and machines and cold metal tables where more check-ups took place. Sensors scanned over her body while thick leather straps held her down. The humans talked to one another, using terminology she was not familiar with. She was unable to say no to any of it, as usual. Then, they gave her a shot, and her entire world went black.

She woke up back in her cage, a bowl of fruit and water before her. It was gone quicker than she could taste it, but that didn't matter for at the moment she was finally going to fill her empty belly. After that though, the adrenaline exerted to feed her half-starved body faded away to an agonizing pain all over. Her sides felt as if they had split open, and the back of her head was groaning like a drill had been plunged into it. For all she knew, that might have been true.

And to her surprise, other moans of pain began to float around in the lab as other animals came too and found themselves in similar situations. The howling became just as bad as the silence had been; screeching monkeys and the shrieks of birds bouncing off the walls made Tenten longing for unconsciousness once more.

"It hurts! It hurts!" something wept from two cages to her right. Tenten pushed her empty food bowl away and crawled to the front to press her snout against the spaces in the door. The voice was feminine, clear and worried. From her vantage point, Tenten also realized that she was positioned to the far left of the long row of cages, about ten feet above the clear linoleum floor, and that a pair of thick metal doors were all she could see opposite of her position. Once again the shrill, pleading voice entered her ears, "Why am I hurting so much? Please, make it stop!"

Hearing such a frail voice pained Tenten's heart, the heavy amount of fear and sadness beginning to weigh down on her like it had when she and the animals were first caught. If she had to describe it, the feeling was like a gooey black tar-substance being poured on her that was so stifling it made her agonized limbs feel as if they were being crushed. Her pulse quickening at the suffocating air, Tenten began to mumble an old hearing she would listen to when the songbirds of her forest began to sing to one another; she'd do anything just to relieve herself of the panic coursing through her at the moment.

"A little bird is crying," she half-sang, half-murmured. "It's tears plant flowers in the ground. The bamboo sways and the wind blows. A little bird is crying," she continues when it feels the crescendo of wailing reaches its peak and begins to die down. "It's tears plant flowers in the ground. The clouds float by and the sun is shining bright. A little bird is crying. It's tears plant flowers in the ground. Momma bird comes back home with a worm in her beak. A little bird has stopped crying," she finishes when a lighter, feather-like feeling begins to settle upon her and push out all of the dark voices around her. Tenten is not actually sure if she is falling asleep or if the sound around her is quieting, but the cries from two cages over can no longer be heard and her head is no longer in such acute pain.

She blacks out right after.

* * *

Tenten does not feel like she is in a dream, but the out-of-body experience she has makes it feel like she is. Her mind is jotting down information, but she feels nothing.

In her head, she is back on the cold, sterile operating table. Coarse leather straps hold her down and two humans in white hover above her, their features blurred by the horribly bright light behind their heads. They speak.

"It's not everyday you find one of these, especially not one so young. They're usually so hard to train, more so to find a competent trainer for," the first notes with a hint of surprise in their tone.

A sound akin to a scoff is made right after though. "She will be perfect for that boy," the second voice rejoices in a deeper, more-aged voice. "His family is adeptly attuned to the same natural energy that her body exudes. Once we surgically implant the chakra modifiers and the necessary components for battle, she will most likely become the strongest of her generation." Something is tapped against the table in irritation; a pencil maybe?

"The kid is not worthy of it though," the other voice strains. Tenten notices how it seems to refer her only as an 'it'. "His family is noble, yes, but _he_ is not. We should wait a year and give it to the next - "

"A year?" the other voice booms incredulously. "By then she will have become an adolescent! No trainer will be able to handle her power! Even if the boy is not of high-ranking, he is the only one available from the new trainers to accept such circumstances!" Idly, Tenten hoped that they were talking about Rock Lee. He must be special, to be spoken about with such scrutiny by the two humans.

An aggravated sigh. "We will see. The boy will be given it as a test-run first, but if he fails to control it then we will be forced to find someone else who can."

"Bah, just watch Ebisu. She'll rise higher than all of them." A pause, then spoken with a slight smile. "And she'll be able to take him with her."

After that, Tenten was injected with something and her world went black once more.

* * *

Tenten awoke in darkness, her entire being a dull throb that was only slightly off from being insufferable. She stayed still, just feeling her dry throat and her steadying breathing until something falling and hitting the ground in a sharp collision alerts her to lift open her heavy eyelids.

Nothing stirs for a while. All of the other animal have finally been lulled into a blessed unconsciousness like she had been in. After five minutes, Tenten writes off the noise as her imagination. Not two minutes after her conclusion, she hears a quiet snicker. Then, delicate footsteps.

"Hehehe," the voice giggled merrily, the voice of a boy perhaps. "Iruka's such a liar; it was so easy to break in. And how could I? Seeing the new Battle Units before even the graduating class! Whoops, gotta be quiet... like a ninja..._sneaky_." It was clearly obvious this boy was immature, what with how he talked to himself and expecting a reply. Tenten was happy though to listen, but she curiously lifted her head up to the openings in her metal door to try and see who was walking around so late at night.

"Oh, cool! It's the Specialized Battle Units! I hope I get one of these when I graduate!" The voice is in fact a boy, who skids across the clean floors in front of the row of cages Tenten inhabits. He is a scrawny thing, with a wide grin on his face and a mop of tussled blond hair. Despite needing to be stealthy, he is wearing such brightly orange pants that Tenten grimaces at the thought of what they might look like under regular lighting. The boy notices that she is awake, and presses his face close to the cage in awe. "You're so cute!" he gushed, completely forgetting the need to be quiet. "Like a little... uh, what was it? Argh, I should have listened in class! They were going over a species that looked just like you! Oh, but how could such an adorable creature be a Specialized Battle Unit?"

Up close, Tenten could see more of the boy in detail. He had vibrant blue eyes that seemed to see despite the lack of light, and three distinctive lines on each cheek. His gaze darted downwards before flickering back up to her perplexed face and he smiled. It was such a genuine thing that Tenten felt she should cry at its candidness. "You're #130-1010, huh?" he said. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, so don't forget it! I'm going to be a great trainer; so great in fact, that I'll become the next Battle Unit champion! Then, people will _have_ to acknowledge me! I'll be sure to look out for you next year, seeing as I can't be your trainer because I'm still one year away - but no matter what, I promise I won't forget your face!"

It was a strange sensation for Tenten. This odd human child, who had burst into what was probably a very high-level facility and was blabbering away in a loud voice, had just promised her something she never had even in the bamboo forest. He was offering her friendship.

Despite her tired limbs, Tenten wanted to reply in some way. A chirp in response possibly, or a tender smile in turn, but she was unable to when a voice called out heavily, "Who's there?" Naruto made a face and winced.

"I gotta go. Don't forget, Naruto Uzumaki: next Battle Unit champion," he whispered to her with a wink. "I won't forget you, #130-1010." And with that, he was running off with a silent laugh reverberating through the room. And Tenten, for the first time ever, knew what kindness felt like.

* * *

The laws of the forest were very simple, Tenten observed. She had a lot of time to do these things, now that all she was able to do was groggily slide around in her cage and eat the food that was brought to her by humans in white whenever the sun came up.

Back in the forest, she had never had to bother with thinking about it. Either you found a way to procure food and avoid predators, or you died. Something even children such as herself could easily grasp. Tenten didn't know her parents; the concept did not even enter her head because it was so trivial. Sure she knew that you need a male and a female of the species to make a new one, but such silly thoughts on where she came from had never been bothered with up until this point. This place has made her silly.

Another was how every day had been a challenge. Tenten had to learn things by herself. Was this bad for her body to eat? Is that animal a threat or was it okay to pass by? Where is the nearest place to hide? Her time was spent guided by these vital questions, many of the answers having to be figured out on her own. It was through her luck and survival instincts that enabled her to live through her first winter.

She was taught so many important lessons through her experiences. Most of her time spent in the cage was focused on remembering these instances. It helped deal with the pain as well, which seemed to go from a bearable ache to a mind-ravaging blaze. Sometimes, she would endlessly rub her paws against the smooth emerald around her neck, to soothe herself and to remember why she was here in the first place. In this purgatory, time was her enemy. It could drive her crazy if she dwelled upon it too long, and thus was the only way to ground herself into reality no matter how harsh it was.

After the third day, Tenten tried not to think of so many murderous thoughts should that sly striped-cat ever cross her path again. She vowed to stay alive in any way possible, in order to meet Rock Lee. This land of metal and cages were just another forest in a way. The rules of survival may have be radically different, but the one law she was ingrained with since birth was still there. Kill, or be killed.

* * *

**A/N: I'm not purposefully making Tenten's species a really big secret, but the way I'm writing this doesn't exactly make it center-stage. Here's some things to visualize for now: she is very small (maybe the size of a pomeranian) and usually trots around on four paws; she is not old enough to stand up on two, but she will be able to later. Small tail, round ears (like her bun hair), and big eyes. A bit stocky in build. Naruto isn't going to be important until later, but his effect will be very long-lasting.**

**Help me decide the next chapter: Should I write about Tenten or should I write about Rock Lee? The concept will be on 'what a Battle Unit' is. Neji might be mentioned no matter which option you chose.**


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